One anomaly number per zone, ready for the trigger review.
Monthly vegetation and rainfall anomaly readings over the cropping and grazing zones you supply, as a layer and a CSV your anticipatory action calendar can read.
Spec
- Resolution (GSD)
- 250 m or coarser
- Cadence
- Monthly
- Platform
- Coarse-resolution satellite
- Spectral
- Multispectral, no thermal band
- Reported over
- Cropping and grazing zones you supply
- Files
- Anomaly layer, rainfall overlay, zone CSV, pass note
- Delivery unit
- One set of files per zone set, per month
Files, by month
Four files per zone set each month, in formats a GIS or the trigger model's input sheet already opens.
- Ref
- F1
- File
Zone anomaly layer
- Format
GeoTIFF- What's in it
- Vegetation condition against the seasonal norm for the month, drawn over your zones. Each zone carries one value, so the layer reads at a glance and drops under your own boundaries in a GIS. Monthly, ahead of the trigger review.
- Ref
- F2
- File
Rainfall anomaly overlay
- Format
GeoTIFF- What's in it
- Rainfall deficit or surplus against the norm, over the same zones and the same month. Lay it over the vegetation layer to see whether a poor reading follows a dry spell.
- Ref
- F3
- File
Zone table
- Format
CSV- What's in it
- One row per zone and month: zone code, vegetation anomaly, rainfall anomaly. The zone code is yours, the one already in your calendar, so the table loads into the sheet your trigger model reads without anyone retyping it. Monthly, with the layers.
- Ref
- F4
- File
Pass note
- Format
Note- What's in it
- Which imagery dates the month's reading drew on, and which zones had no usable pass and carry the previous month's reading instead, marked as carried.
How it works
Input
Send your zones
Cropping and grazing zones or livelihood-zone boundaries as a boundary file, with the zone codes you already use in the calendar.
Setup, once
Agree the seasonal norm
We go through the baseline window with you, so the norm matches the one your trigger thresholds were written against.
Every month
Monthly pass
The month's coarse-resolution multispectral imagery is pulled and checked for usable cover over each zone.
Every month
Anomaly computed
Vegetation condition and rainfall are scored against the seasonal norm, zone by zone.
Before the trigger review
Files delivered
The layers, CSV and pass note arrive ahead of the monthly review. Thresholds and the decision stay with your unit.
Limits
- Cloud
- Coarse-resolution optical needs a usable pass in the month. Under persistent cloud a zone can slip to the next cycle. The pass note marks it, so an old reading is not mistaken for a new one.
- Resolution
- At 250 m or coarser a pixel covers more ground than a field. The signal is zone-level only. It does not show fields, farms or households.
- Cadence
- Monthly is the rhythm this signal runs on. It is not a weekly or real-time feed.
- No thermal band
- The imagery is multispectral with no thermal band, so there is no surface temperature reading.
- Anomaly, not forecast
- The output is a departure from the norm. It feeds your trigger process and does not predict famine.
- Ground truth
- It does not replace field assessments or the phase classification process.
Why this exists
Before each trigger review the analyst pulls the vegetation and rainfall products by hand, clips them to the zones, works out each one's departure from the seasonal norm and pastes it into the sheet the calendar reads. When a zone comes in late or a clip goes wrong, the number reaching the meeting is stale, or it gets redone the night before.
This takes the pull-and-plot off your desk and leaves the trigger decision where it was.
Who it's for
Built for
- Early-warning and food security analysts who keep an anticipatory action calendar and refresh its indicators each month.
- Remote-sensing or GIS specialists who want an anomaly table for their zones without running the pull themselves.
Not for
- Field-level or household-level monitoring. The pixel is too big.
- Anyone after a weekly or real-time feed.
- A direct famine forecast or a phase classification. This is one input line to those processes.
Questions from the analyst and the procurement desk
Does this replace ground assessments?
No. It is one input line into the calendar. Field verification stays as it is.
What does 250 m or coarser show?
Zone-level vegetation and rainfall condition. Nothing at field or household scale.
How is the seasonal norm defined?
Against the historical baseline for that zone and month. We agree the baseline window with you in setup, so it lines up with your thresholds.
Do you set our trigger thresholds?
No. You bring the thresholds and the decision. The files give you the anomaly to hold against them.
Can cadence be faster than monthly?
No. Monthly is the cadence this signal runs on.
What happens under persistent cloud?
A zone without a usable pass slips to the next cycle and the pass note says which. The earlier reading is carried and marked, not passed off as new.
Can we check it against our own indicators?
Yes. Hold the zone CSV against the series you already keep. If a zone looks wrong, send it back and we will go through that month's imagery with you.
What does it load into?
The CSV opens in a spreadsheet or loads into anything that takes CSV, and the layers open in a GIS. There is no direct integration with a monitoring platform.
Who owns the files and the imagery rights?
Your zone boundaries stay yours. Use of the files and the licence on the imagery behind them are written into the project agreement before the first month runs.
How is it priced?
It depends on the number and size of zones and the months you want covered, so we quote once we have seen your zones.
Add the line to your calendar.
Send your zones and the season you track. We will scope the monthly run from there.
Start a project